Second on the 2nd: How your rubber is made

This is an OLD post.  It's from January, 2010, but it hearkens back to April, 2007.  Many of you who have been here for awhile know two of the people I mention in the post.  One is my shop-a-holic friend Kathy, the other is Theresa, the lady with the pink hair who lives in Tennessee.  At the time, she didn't have pink hair though.  Theresa spent a week with me in April, 2007, and I had put this trip together with another friend who also wanted to meet Theresa.  We all met on the ABC Yahoo Group and it was great we could get together in person, not just on the internet.  Kathy and I had planned to show Theresa who is a rubber stamping guru and fanatic, a place in town called River City Rubber.  I've removed the link to River City Rubber, because although it appears to be the logo for the establishment, it doesn't appear to show anything stamp wise.  Before we begin, you might recall how I mentioned the red barn on Sally's and my way home from the pumpkin patch.

This is the "Barn" which was once known as River City Rubber.  The smaller building to the back right was where their stamps were made.  Here is our outing I call

How is your rubber made?

In April, 2007, three of my ABC yahoo group friends and I got together. It was supposed to be a get together to celebrate Theresa coming to Wichita, but it turned into a birthday celebration for me. I was totally surprised and blown away by the surprise.

However, this post is not about a two year old birthday memory, but how rubber stamps are made. Before a stamping company called River City Rubber or RCR (those of you who stamp have probably heard of it) had to move from the place they had occupied for more than a few years, they were located at what was called "The Barn." RCR is owned and operated by sisters Dana, LeAnne, and Mary. At the time, they all even lived in the barn.

I lost all my photos when my hard drive died a couple of months ago, but I was fortunate enough to have stored these photos on a Yahoo group site. These were taken by me and copied from Yahoo. Those of you who don't know about Yahoo, they store photos in a standard thumbnail, large, and larger size. I copied each in the largest size that Yahoo allowed. I'm not sure how much larger they will get if you click on them, but I hope you enjoy the tour as much as I did, hopefully with photos you will be able to enlarge.

From left, are Celia from Great Bend, KS; Kathy from Hutchinson, KS; and Theresa from Clarksville, TN. In the background is the sign pointing the way to The Barn, and the "shop" where the rubber is made.

When we got there, there was nothing but rubber stamps. I mean they were everywhere. There must have been a gazillion or more. OK, a bit of an exaggeration, perhaps, but more stamps than I have ever seen in my entire life. It was overwhelming, inspiring and totally unlike anything I had envisioned. While looking at rubber stamps, we told Dana DeCicco, one of the sisters who run the store, about our venture. She called the "shop" (about 100 yards from the barn) and we were given a tour of where they make the rubber stamps. You can see a tiny bit of the red "shop" in the background of the first photo.

The three stampers (Celia, Kathy, and Theresa) all ordered unmounted rubber stamps (UMs). I had forgotten you could get UMs there, since their main focus at that time was mounted. As a bonus, their rubber order was made that day with us watching. Now how cool was that?

Entering the shop was pretty low key. It was a small operation at that time, and I have no idea what it's like now that they have moved. Here Theresa, and Celia behind her, have entered the shop. I stopped to take a photo of the order board, which is the first thing you see when you enter. The cat box on the floor says it all.

Dana showed us the etched plates used to make the rubber. These they buy. Please don't ask me where, I don't remember and didn't write anything down that day. The shelves in the background are filled with wood mounted stamps that are waiting to be shipped or sold in the store. If Dana's name sounds familiar, it's because she has been on HGTV's Carol Duvall show (ED: a dead link, so I removed it.  Also note the cat in the background, along with one of the workers preparing the rubber).

While we were waiting for the press (or oven) to heat to the proper temperature, Theresa spotted one of the rescue cats that lived there. She almost took it back to Tennessee with her. Mary, one of the sisters, looks on in the background.


Mary, in back, Dana (in the middle with back to the camera), Kathy's arm, and Celia, examine the remaining components needed to make a rubber stamp. One side is flat, one side has the image plate, and the unpressed rubber is sandwiched in the middle.

Dana (on right) explains the process that is about to happen and how hot the press needs to be in order to get a good impression, while Celia watches the setup (Ed: I noticed the slide mount necklace Kathy made for each of us).

In this photo, one of the workers places the rubber on one of the plates now that the temperature of the press has heated sufficiently. The plate is then inserted into the hot press (oven) shown on the right. Note the heavy heat resistant gloves she is wearing. This press gets extremely hot, but I forgot what the final temperature was.

After pressing, the plate is removed from the press and the rubber is removed from the HOT plate. Rubber and plate are very hot and the rubber is quite malleable at this point. The piece had been in the press for several minutes before it was removed.

When the rubber is cool, a worker accurately cuts the rubber using an electric scroll saw.  Kathy (left), Theresa in center, Celia on the far right and I watch with fascination.


LeAnne (one of the sisters) is working on the machine that makes labels for the wooden blocks. The disk that LeAnne is using must also be purchased. Mary on the far right explains the process.

In this photo, Dana shows and tells us about the machine that LeAnne (not seen in photo) is using to stamp the image onto the wooden blocks. Each plate costs $10,000. I can see why it would be advantageous to sell only UMs. From left is Theresa, Kathy, and Dana.

From there, the blocks go to the same worker who had cut the rubber.  She now carefully adheres the rubber to the block, precisely lining up the stamp to the image.

I hope you enjoyed this little tour through "The Barn," although it no longer exists as a rubber stamper's paradise. I also hope you found learning how rubber stamps are made was as fascinating to you as it was to me.

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Now that you've seen mine, it's time to share your Second on the 2nd.  The rules are quite simple and everyone is welcome to join the fun look back.  All you have to do is bring back a post that you are especially proud of, or perhaps one you shared before anyone knew your blog existed.  Any post, any genre, any artistic endeavor is acceptable.  Then link below (direct links only, please) and Bleubeard and I, along with other Second on the 2nd friends, will be by to visit.  Please be aware this link is only open for five days, so linking on the 2nd is preferred.








However, some of you may be aware that Bleubeard and I are hosting Art Journal Journey this month.  I chose a Favorite Season for this spread.  Today it is April Showers.

I'm fairly certain I'm the world's worst stamper.  I'm going to blame it on the one inch dye ink stamp pad that I tried to use.  Even with huffing and puffing, it was like trying to drain the ocean using a teaspoon.

These little girls' faces have always been distorted and I think that may be why I dug the stamp out of the clearance bin.

I spent a great amount of time coloring the little girls, although I have absolutely NO makers or watercolors that are flesh colored.

I can't read it, either, but it makes a great background stamp if you aren't showcasing it like I am today.

The nameplate stamp was the best of the bunch, stampwise.  I assure you, I did NOT pay $12.75 for the V-mail stamp.

I add Wacky Tac (a product no longer sold) to the back of all my UMs.  If I have a block the size of the UM,

I will probably stick it on, as I have done here to the back of the V-mail stamp.

Thank you for joining Bleubeard and me today with your Second on the 2nd and we also hope to see you at Art Journal Journey.